"Fear God, Love God, Serve God": "Waiting For The Mantle"

"He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him,

and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan."

(2 Kings 2:13)

What do you want from God? Elisha wanted a double portion of Elijah's power, and he was told by Elijah that if he saw him go away, he would give him his mantle. It happened just that way; Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind as Elisha watched, and the mantle came floating down upon Elisha. Elisha then went on and performed twice as many miracles as Elijah, except one ... The Bible is true; at the time of Elisha's death, he was one miracle shy of Elijah ... Then:

"And it came to pass as they were burying a

man, that, behold, they spied a band of men;

and they cast the man into the sepulchre of

Elisha: and when the man was let down, and

touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and

stood up on his feet."

(2 Kings 13:21)

Slam, dunk, Score! The double portion promise from Elijah, of miracles to Elisha, was now complete! Oh, the Bible is incredible, is it not? The word of the Prophet was complete, and hey, what a surprise to that man thrown in Elisha's tomb! The grave had no sting, and death surely was a victory for him! The Word brought forth then, and the Word brings forth Now. Miracles still happen; Prophets still proclaim; God still performs; people still rise from ashes; and the Spirit of Jesus Christ is alive and well in planet earth.

The mantle of the Prophet Elijah represented anointing; the definition says it's a covering or a transfer of role or position. It's the nature of humans to want more. More of what? Money, power, higher status, and everything that goes with worldly desires ... But, for the hungry longing Christians; we want more of the things of God ... More of the anointing, signs, miracles, wonders, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, the Spirit of the Lord, and we want money too, for the furtherance of the kingdom of God ... To be able to compete technologically with the world, for the purpose of winning more souls for God. The Mantle ... Who is waiting for the mantle to fall? Who spends more time looking up, than looking down? Who has captured the attention of a Holy God, and knows not that He's preparing to send it down? Who will step out in "exploits," doing "greater things than these?"

Elisha, with Elijah's mantle

We don't have an Elijah to cast down a mantle upon us, but the hands of the Prophets of God still transfer power, still anoint, still heal, still bring miracles, still provoke deliverance, still ...

Elijah and Elisha

Pastor Kenneth Phillips

The mantle is under those hands! You say, "But, I live in another country; I can't get under those hands." Request that an anointed handkerchief be sent to you from promiselandchurch.net. It will be prayed over, anointed with oil and sent to you. It's biblical:

"Now God worked unusual miracles by the

hands of Paul. So that even handkerchiefs or

aprons were brought from his body to the

sick, and the diseases left them and the evil

spirits went out of them."

(Acts 19:12)

Elisha

The thing about Elisha was that he was hungry. What? He was hungry for more; he craved more of God; he was so adamant about it that he would not leave Elijah's side, because he was not about to miss his chance at the double portion. That kind of hunger receives its reward even today. When you're hungry, you will take even the crumbs under the table ...

"The woman came and knelt before Him. 'Lord,

help me!' she said. He replied, 'It is not right to

take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs.'

'Yes, Lord,' she said, 'but even the dogs eat the

crumbs that fall from their masters' table.' Then,

Jesus answered, 'Woman, you have great faith!

Your request is granted.' And her daughter was

healed from that very hour."

"And a woman was there who had been

subject to bleeding for twelve years, but

no one could heal her. She came up behind

him (Jesus) and touched the edge of his cloak,

and immediately her bleeding stopped."

(Luke 8:43-44)

So Zacchaeus ran ahead of the crowds and climbed

a tree on the side of the road, confident Jesus

would soon walk past."

(Luke 19:4)

The woman appeared somewhat impudent to Jesus, so great was her desire for her daughter to be healed. Hunger! The woman with the issue of blood, because of their customs, was not allowed to be in public with her condition, yet she risked it only to reach the Lord Jesus and perchance touch even the hem of his garment. Hunger! Zacchaeus climbed a tree to call out to Jesus, since the throngs of people around him were so great. Hunger!

It's the one who sneaks back to the prayer room after a wonderful service, because she just wants to sit at the feet of Jesus a little bit longer; they're turning out the lights in the sanctuary, but she's waiting ... It's the one who spends all day Saturday alone before the altar of God, waiting for the still small voice ... It's the one who is awake in the wee hours of the morning singing love songs to the lover of her soul, waiting ... It's the one who walks in the pasture, talking, singing to his beloved Savior, the deep calling to deep ... It's the man who is after God's own heart, who groans at a word, groans at a song, groans at the news, and groans for no apparent reason, because his soul is ahead of this world and this time ... It's always the hungry ones, who are waiting ...

Who will climb the mountain? Who will make the time to be alone with the Holy omnipotent Creator? Who will come away with Him? Who wants more, with a burning insatiable desire? Who is expecting and just "Waiting For The Mantle?"